Exclusively on behalf of Centrica Renewables PLC we are pleased to advise that the attached DNV certified 300t Kenz Pedestal Crane is available for sale. The Crane is currently installed on the MPI Resolution but the vessel is having an upgraded crane installed and this Kenz crane will therefore be available for delivery late 2010/early 2011 in Rotterdam.
For full details and inventory of the equipment, crane curves and price guidance, please contact Vicky Stedall.
An Antony Gormley figure and a Tall Ship flank the Burbo Bank windfarm. Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Certainly not the news you want to hear if you’re a windfarm developer. A fault, believed to be caused by the concrete used to fix some turbines to their steel foundation wearing away, has caused some wind turbines to drop a few inches. The fault was first discovered at the Egmond aan Zee wind farm in the Netherlands last Autumn and affects those with single cylinder foundations.
Energy company engineers are now urgently investigating to what extent the flaw may affect their offshore wind farms. Centrica, which owns British Gas and Dong Energy, have already identified potential problems with three of its wind farms including Gunfleet Sands off the Essex coast and Burbo Bank in Liverpool Bay.
Renewables UK (former BWEA) have been quoted as saying that it could cost in the region of £50million to fix Britain’s 336 turbines thought to be at risk and this news is now casting concern over the 175 turbines due for installation on the London Array project, in which Dong Energy and E.ON are partners.
Industry design standards will no doubt be carefully scrutinised before the next round of wind farm construction and the utility companies will certainly be consulting their lawyers looking to apportion blame…
After a series of UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Conferences around the country run by Regional Development Agencies and the Crown Estate to identify opportunities and challenges in setting up an offshore wind infrastructure in the UK it finally looks as though these opportunities are being realised.
It was announced in the news this week that hundreds of jobs will be created through a new £80m offshore wind turbine factory. The production plant will belong to German wind turbine manufacturer Siemens who hope that the factory will be built and operational by 2014, with the first turbines turning by 2015.
The exact location of the new facility remains to be confirmed; however it is likely that the offshore wind turbine production facility will be built on the east coast or in the north east of England.
It is believed that the new Siemens wind turbine factory will create around 700 jobs as well as additional indirect jobs in the supply chain; however, it was only last year that 600 British workers lost their jobs when the country’s only major wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight – owned by Danish company Vestas – closed with Vestas blaming the lack of demand for wind turbines in the UK.
Mitsubishi also announced recently their intention to invest up to £100 million in an offshore wind turbine R&D project in the UK under an MoU with the UK Government. Their shipbuilding division is also looking to enter the offshore wind installation and operation and maintenance vessel market. They would join the likes of Keppel, Lamprell and Daewoo who have all announced contracts for newbuild windfarm installation vessels recently.
The deployment of offshore wind is expected to accelerate over the next decade with a total potential capacity of over 40 GW currently being planned across the UK (25 GW within the Round 3 offshore wind leasing round). The challenge to deliver this programme is enormous and will make offshore wind in the UK one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects with a potential investment by 2020 of over £100 billion.
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